


Experience Of A Deathtime

by PandaTabby



Series: A Living Nightmare [2]
Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game), Delitoonz - Fandom, Septiplier - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Deliritoonz - Freeform, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Septiplier - Freeform, Traumatizing Experience, because there isn't enough of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-14 12:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9182677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandaTabby/pseuds/PandaTabby
Summary: Avery Mellon is a 14 ½ year old girl who is a huge fan of the three YouTubers Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and H2O Delirious, and her heart’s deepest desired wish is to get the chance to meet them all in person. Her dream comes true, but not in the way that she expected, or wanted. Instead of a dream, it’s more of a living nightmare.Map: Coldwind FarmKiller: The Hillbilly





	1. A New Map And Monster

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back for Part 2! This part is a little shorter than the other four, but it will still take the month to finish publishing it, so don't worry about such a long gap in between 2 and 3.
> 
> If you have any questions about something from Part 1, just comment it and I will get it answered.

A strangely delicious smell filled Jack’s nose, and his eyes shot open. The last thing that he remembered was exiting through the gate in Autohaven Wrecker’s, and now he was waking up here. Where was here, though? Jack sat up and looked around. He was in a cornfield, and Jack immediately knew that this time they would be facing Coldwind Farm. But what was that smell? Was it food? Jack stood up, and then with a horrible feeling of dread, he realized that he was alone.

 

Totally alone.

 

No Avery. No Mark. No Delirious.

 

Just Jack.

 

Where were they? He had to find them, and he needed to do that quickly. Being alone with a killer on the loose was never a good thing, but why had they been split apart? They all left together, so why weren’t they starting the next map together? Jack shook his head, clearing these thoughts from it, and started following the smell that was making his mouth water.

 

Mark, however, was not greeted by the smell of cooked meat, but of rotten meat. His face became all scrunched up from the horrible stench as he opened his eyes and sat up. He was in the Slaughterhouse, and there were a few cow corpses hanging around him. Mark quickly ran outside the building, unable to withstand the sight or the smell. The sight may have been gone, but the smell still followed him. God, it was so gross!

 

Mark looked around what he could see of Coldwind Farm. Looked for a generator, a box, a hook, or even better; one of the others. That’s what Mark knew he should look for, so he went off in search of Jack, Delirious, and Avery.

 

Delirious awoke inside the Silo. The whole thing was falling apart, and the stairs leading down into the basement were only yards away from him. Holding in a startled yelp, Delirious stood and started looking around quickly. The first thing he saw was a generator. That made sense, since there was usually one in the head of the fallen Silo. Delirious gave himself another minute or two to figure out what was going on. Why was he alone? Hadn’t he left with the others at the same time? Or was this how the game was going to work; separating them all each time they escaped a map?

 

Once Delirious was calmed enough to move forward, he stooped over at the generator and began repairing it quickly, keeping an eye out and his ears open for the killer, which he was sure was The Hillbilly.

 

Avery had no idea where she was. She didn’t recognize this part of Coldwind Farm. Or at least, not for a few moments. When she finally figured where she was, Avery made for the deck on the second floor. She was currently inside The Thompson House, and wasn’t at all surprised when she found a staircase descending into the basement. Moving away from the stairs going down, she went to the stairs going up. Once out on the deck, she looked out over the visible area. She could see the Slaughterhouse not too far away, and thought that she also saw some movement over by it. Could it be The Hillbilly?

 

Or was it one of the others?

 

Avery quickly ran down the stairs again and crossed the ground outside. If it was one of the others, then she needed to get to them quickly. Avery was running so quickly that she almost passed right by a hook. Stopping to tear it down, Avery made sure that she didn’t lose the direction of the Slaughterhouse.

 

Jack had reached the end of the cornfield. He looked around. There was a broken harvester lying in a pile, falling apart, nearby, and then a little farther away was a fallen Silo. The top of it was emitting an interesting white glow, and Jack made his way towards it. When he reached it, he found that the light was coming from a fully repaired generator. Getting excited, Jack started looking around him.

 

“Hello?” he called, hoping that whoever had fixed the generator was still around.

 

“Jack?” a familiar voice responded.

 

“H2O? Where are you?” Jack asked out.

 

“Behind you,” Delirious said.

 

Jack spun around, partly startled. “Oh, hi,” he gasped, relieved at the sight of the masked YouTuber.

 

“Hey,” Delirious returned the greeting.

 

While Jack and Delirious were getting situated with a plan, Mark was in trouble. He was in a really bad situation at the moment, as he was now hiding frantically behind a dead tree, on the other side of which was The Hillbilly. It groaned and ambled by, its chainsaw hanging heavily at its side, and its hammer gripped tightly in the opposite hand.

 

Mark held his breath as he waited with crossed fingers for The Hillbilly to walk by. But it didn’t. Not in the direction that Mark had wanted at least. It walked right by him, but it also saw him. Raising its hammer, Mark rolled out of the way as the head of the hammer was slammed into the dead tree bark.

 

Mark circled the tree and kept running, and, not to his surprise, The Hillbilly followed after him. What was surprising was that The Hillbilly was able to keep up with him without his chainsaw sprint. And then Mark quickly realized that the killer didn’t need the unnatural boost of speed, because he was following quite easily. Mark’s leg was giving him problems.

 

Avery was just finishing up with taking down the first hook when she heard a chainsaw revving. She looked around and spotted the disfigured killer. And it was chasing someone. Someone who had red hair and a slight limp in his run.

 

“Mark!” Avery gasped.

 

She clasped the black meat hook in her hand and ran towards Mark and The Hillbilly. She ran diagonally, so that she was keeping pace with Mark while still closing the distance between them.

 

“Mark! Over here!” Avery called, and when Mark saw her, he turned to run over.

 

Avery stopped and waited. When Mark finally reached her safely, she raised the hook in her hands defensively. With a yell, she charged forward, swinging the hook, the sharp end stabbing The Hillbilly’s already bad leg. The monster let out a scream of pain that only grew louder when Avery ripped the hook out, taking Mark with her when she ran. Once they were sure that The Hillbilly had lost them, Mark and Avery stopped. They gave themselves a few minutes to catch their breath.

 

“Any sign of Jack or Delirious?” Avery asked Mark when she could breathe again. Mark shook his head before sitting down and lightly touching the bandages on his leg.

 

Avery watched him with some worry building up inside her. “Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.

 

“Yeah,” Mark said, giving a nod. “It just hurts a little from the sudden run.” He looked up at Avery for a moment before pushing himself to his feet again, keeping as much weight as possible off his right leg.

 

Avery looked around. “We should probably try to find the safe point,” she said. “That way we’ll have a place to go to when we find the others.”

 

Mark nodded. “Any ideas as to where it might be located?” he asked.

 

Avery thought, then said,” Coldwind Farm has the Killer’s Shack on one of the areas, but there are also two other possible locations of the basement.”

 

“Which are?” Mark prompted.

 

“The Silo or The Thompson House.” Avery explained.

 

“So, should we try to locate each of these? You said yourself that there was no treehouse on Autohaven Wrecker’s, but do you think that the safe point might actually be one of the basement’s locations this time?” Mark asked.

 

“Exactly,” Avery said, heading off. Mark followed her. “If anything, the basement would have to be at The Thompson House, leaving the Silo and the Shack open. I found a set a stairs descending below The Thompson House, so it would probably be best if we avoided that for now.” she finished strategizing and she and Mark began their search.

 

Meanwhile, Jack was leading Delirious in the direction of the smell that was making his mouth water, though he still hadn’t found the source of it.

 

“I’m telling you, it’s gotta be that cow tree.” Delirious was saying.

 

Jack rolled his eyes. Even if Delirious was right, Jack didn’t know that. His stomach was rumbling with hunger, and the smell of cooked meat was only making it worse, especially since it was getting stronger.

 

“Ugh, that’s disgusting!” Delirious exclaimed suddenly.

 

Jack looked back at him, though he didn’t stop walking. “What?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

 

Delirious had covered the mouth and nose part of his mask (as if it would do any good) and was complaining about something. “Can’t you smell that?!” Delirious’ voice sounded weird all of a sudden.

 

“Smell what?” Jack sniffed around. “All I smell is something good.” he stated.

 

“You serious?!” Delirious exclaimed.

 

“Well, what does it smell like ta you, then?” Jack asked.

 

“I don’t know, something like. . . like poison or something?” Delirious slipped his mask up a little to cover his actual mouth and nose. “Why do you smell cooked meat? That doesn’t make any sense.” he said through his hands.

 

“I have no idea,” Jack said. He stopped when he caught a whiff of something strange.

 

It must be what Delirious was smelling, Jack assumed, because it didn’t smell too great. Delirious was desperately trying to cover his face and block out the horrible stench.

 

“If you can’t stand it, Delirious,” Jack began, “then go somewhere else.”

 

“What?! No!” Delirious gasped. “We still need to find Mark and Avery,” he stated.

 

That was true, and Jack really didn’t like the thought of Mark alone while injured.

 

“Okay, but where should we start looking?” Jack asked.

 

“How about somewhere it doesn’t stink?” Delirious suggested with a hard tone.

 

So Jack and Delirious started moving away from the area, and to their relief, the stench started to fade. Delirious slipped his mask back over his entire face again. Jack was glancing in every direction, keeping an eye out for anything good or useful, and bad or dangerous. He saw something he wasn’t expecting to see.

 

It looked to be the Killer’s Shack, but the weirdest thing about it was the strange friendly kind of feel it gave off, especially since the shack was actually creepy looking. Jack and Delirious glanced at each other. By the look in Delirious’ eyes behind his mask, Jack could tell that he felt it too; the inviting feeling wafting off the shack.

 

“Do you think we should. . . ?” Delirious started saying, but his voice fell quieter and it left him, leaving him silent.

 

Jack picked up a hint of fear. “It may be worth checking out,” he said. Delirious nodded, but Jack saw him gulp. “You can wait out here for me if ye want ta.”

 

He actually thought that Delirious would take that chance and say okay, but he shook his head.

 

“No,” Delirious said. “I’m staying with you.”

 

Although Delirious was saying this, Jack could still see that he was scared. “Hey,” he said, hoping to help. “Yer not the only one who's afraid.”

 

“Afraid!?” Delirious exclaimed. “I-I never said anything about being a-a-afraid!” Delirious turned his head away from Jack when his voice cracked on the last word. Jack blinked at him silently. It was a moment before Delirious finally said, “Yeah, I’ll wait out here. Stand guard. . . I guess.”

 

Jack gave a small huff of laughter. Even though Delirious was a couple years older than him, it would seem that Jack was the braver one. While Delirious was watching the area, Jack made his way inside.

 

The Killer’s Shack was totally empty, which was really weird. Jack was getting the feeling that he was missing something, so he started looking around more carefully. The walls of the shack were bare, but when Jack scanned the floor, he saw something in the far corner that got his attention. Getting closer for a better look, Jack discovered that it was a hatch. Was this the escape hatch? Jack tried the handle. It lifted with his pull and the lid flew upward. A gust of air blasted into Jack’s face before he looked into the hatch.

 

There was a staircase leading down somewhere, but Jack knew that it couldn’t possibly be the basement, since that was back at the Silo.

 

“Hey, H2O! Come in here, I’ve found something!” Jack called outside.

 

Delirious must have guessed that since he was still alive, it was safe to come in, because he appeared behind Jack a second later. “What?” he asked, eyeing the hatch.

 

“Think we’ve found the safe point?” Jack looked up at Delirious, who shrugged. Jack looked back down into the hatch and, with a sigh, threw himself into it.

 

Jack slowly made his way down the short staircase as Delirious came through the hatch behind him. The room underneath the Killer’s Shack was a little bigger than the treehouse had been, with an electric light attached to the ceiling. The walls were made from neatly stacked stones, and the floor was dark wooden paneling. Jack saw something white on one of the walls and went over to it. There was a large number eight written in jet black ink, and a single tally mark was drawn beneath it.

 

“Hey, Delirious, look at this,” Jack said. Delirious came over and looked at the note in Jack’s hand. “This is the hideout,” Jack said.

 

Delirious looked around at the room again, then at Jack once more. “Apparently it is,” he said. “But what happened with Mark and Avery? I can’t help but feel worried,” he added.

 

“Hmm,” Jack thought for a moment. It was then that they both heard footsteps above them and looked up. “What is that? Is it The Hillbilly?” Jack wondered.

 

“I don’t know,” Delirious said. “I’ll go check it out.”

* * *

“What the hell is that?” Mark said suddenly.

 

Avery followed his gaze. He’d spotted a small building. The walls were gray and dirty, and there was a window in the one that Mark and Avery were facing. Avery’s eyes widened suddenly with realization.

 

“It’s the Killer’s Shack!” she gasped, running towards it quickly.

 

Mark followed after her inside the small building, but found that the inside of it was totally empty. Not even a closet had been spawned inside.

 

“That’s odd,” Avery said.

 

“No kidding,” Mark added, looking through the doorway again.

 

There was a sudden banging and both Mark and Avery jumped. In the corner, a hatch door had swung open and someone appeared in it.

 

“Delirious!” Avery cried, happy to see someone else she knew.

 

“Hey! You guys!” Delirious climbed out of the hatch. “You got here just in time,” he said. “Jack and I just found the hideout.”

 

“Great! We were just looking for it ourselves,” Avery said.

 

Mark had already passed her and Delirious and gone down into the hideout. Avery and Delirious followed soon after and walked in on him and Jack hugging.

 

“Oh, sorry, are we interrupting something?” Delirious said, slight tease in his voice.

 

Mark and Jack separated quickly and turned to the two of them.

 

“No,” Jack said quickly.

 

Mark gave an awkward cough.

 

Avery broke the awkward short lived silence. “So, how many generators are there this time?” she asked.

 

“Eight,” Jack answered.

 

“Although I already got one, so it’s now actually seven,” Delirious said.

 

“Oh, even better,” Avery said.

 

Mark, Jack, Delirious, and Avery got themselves comfortable on the floor and Avery started telling them ways to escape The Hillbilly.

 

“So, we all know that the Hillbilly can sprint with its chainsaw,” she said. The others nodded. “But it can’t make turns too well while it’s doing that, so like Delirious did in his episodes of  _ Dead By Daylight  _ gameplays, we dodge and weave,” she explained.

 

Delirious sat a little straighter at Avery’s words.

 

“What if there aren’t any objects or obstacles around for us to weave around?” Jack asked.

 

Avery answered without a moment's thought. “Then you take a sharp turn out of The Hillbilly’s path,” she said. “You should even try to get behind the Hillbilly before making a full escape,” she added.

 

“Delirious, did you close the hatch again?” Jack looked at Delirious, who looked back at him for a second before realizing he hadn’t and jumping to his feet quickly.

 

“It won’t matter, because if you guys want too, we can leave now to find some other generators,” Avery said.

 

“I’ve been walking for too long, and running didn’t really help either,” Mark said.

 

Delirious went up the staircase and came back a moment later after having closed the hatch. “Now I’m wondering what the killers do when they can’t find us anywhere?” he said.

 

Avery shrugged. “Just keep looking, I guess?”

 

“Well, we all know how many generators are left and what ta do at this point,” Jack started.

 

“But I think that we should take some time to rest before going out again. Especially for Mark,” Avery stated.

 

Jack looked at Mark. He saw that he didn’t really like being thought of as weak at the moment, but Mark wasn’t arguing. They were inside the hideout, so they were all safe until they left again. Worrying about the Hillbilly was something that the four of them could push aside for now.


	2. The Killed Killer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you thought things were getting real in the last chapter . . .

After a while, Mark finally said that he was ready to go, and the group all stood to make their way outside. Avery, Delirious, Jack, and Mark all climbed up the short staircase and through the hatch into the Killer’s Shack and waited for Delirious to say it was safe. He had volunteered to be the one to check out the surroundings first, and was now peeking out through the doorway outside into Coldwind Farm. He stepped out several feet, listening for any sounds other than the wind blowing through the overgrown, dead grass, and looking for any movement that would deem alerting.

 

“Okay, it’s good,” He said, looking back at the others.

 

Mark, Jack, and Avery came out behind him, and the group started going around, looking for a generator, hook, or a box where they might find possible supplies. Before they left, Avery had said that they should find something to stabilize them, like food and water. It had been decided that she would be on the lookout and search for the supplies, while Mark, Jack, and Delirious would do the rest.

 

They walked for awhile without seeing anything, until Jack spotted the cornfield.

 

“Hey, isn’t there always a generator in The Rotten Fields?” he asked, looking at Avery.

 

She stopped and looked towards the yellow stalks. “Yeah, there always is,” she said.

 

So the group started heading for the cornfield. It was when Mark stopped suddenly that Jack walked into him.

 

“Mark, why are you stopping?” he asked, very confused.

 

“There’s a hook over there.” Mark pointed to the left of the group.

 

Avery and Delirious stopped, too. They followed Mark’s gaze and saw the hook as well. Avery and Mark went to tear it down, while Jack and Delirious patrolled a small section around them, looking for anything else.

 

“There’s that smell again,” Jack said, sniffing the air as Mark helped Avery on top of the pillar so she could get at the clip and binding holding the hook up.

 

“What smell?” Mark asked, looking towards Jack.

 

“Yeah, I smell it, too,” Delirious said. “Still stinks, though.”

 

“Maybe your nose is just different?” Jack suggested.

 

“What on earth is that supposed to mean?” Delirious demanded.

 

Jack shrugged. “Just a suggestion,” he said.

 

“Got it!” Avery exclaimed suddenly, bringing Jack’s and Delirious’ attention to her and Mark.

 

Avery had just torn the binding off the pillar and the hook fell to the ground, landing with a hard  _ thunk. _

 

Avery jumped off the stand and picked up the hook. “So,” she said. “we keep looking for the generator?”

 

“I guess so,” Mark said.

 

Mark and Avery rejoined Jack and Delirious and kept going towards The Rotten Fields. Delirious was making weird noises as the smell grew stronger. Jack’s mouth was watering again at the delicious smell of cooked meat, though.

 

“What is that smell? Is that what you’re complaining about, Delirious?” Avery asked, turning around and walking backwards.

 

“Yes!” Delirious exclaimed, lifting his mask up and covering his mouth and nose again.

 

“I don’t see what you’re complaining about, Delirious. It’s not that bad, actually,” Avery stated.

 

“Does it smell like cooked meat to you?” Jack asked.

 

Avery nodded.

 

“I don’t smell anything,” Mark said.

 

Delirious, Avery, and Jack all stopped and stared at him.

 

“How are you not smelling that?” Delirious said beneath his hands.

 

“I don’t know, I just don’t,” Mark explained awkwardly.

 

They kept walking until they came to the edge of the cornfield, where they stopped to look around.

 

“I think I’ll wander around the cornfield in search of a box,” Avery said. “You guys can look for the generator.”

 

“You better keep that hook with you then, since you’ll be alone,” Delirious said. Avery nodded before she disappeared into the tall, yellow stalks of corn. “Let’s go find that machine.” Delirious started heading in the opposite direction.

 

Mark and Jack followed after him, and it wasn’t long before they finally found the generator. They quickly got to work repairing it, pausing every now and then to listen out for any sounds indicating that The Hillbilly was nearby or that Avery was coming towards them again.

 

The generator gradually grew louder as Mark, Jack, and Delirious made more progress, and it eventually grew so loud that they barely heard the chainsaw nearby. Delirious was the first to realize what it was and he shot straight upward, somewhat startling Jack and Mark.

 

“It’s here!” Delirious exclaimed, looking around wildly.

 

Mark and Jack stopped and looked around, too. The whirring was heard again, and then it grew louder. The Hillbilly suddenly burst out of the cornstalks, scaring the three half to death. Jack and Mark ran off in one direction, but as Delirious tried to follow, The Hillbilly blocked his path.

 

“Delirious!” Mark cried over to him.

 

“GO! I’ll be fine!” Delirious called back, running in the opposite direction.

 

Mark and Jack were still for a moment before they finally remembered how to move and took off after Delirious and The Hillbilly. Delirious was trying to figure out how to lose the beast pursuing him, and it wasn’t going well. The chainsaw suddenly whirred even louder, and the sound of it got far too close for comfort. Delirious jumped to one side, narrowly avoiding getting split in half by the deadly tool.

 

Delirious got to his feet again quickly, but The Hillbilly had recovered already and grabbed his hood, pulling him backward and throwing him back onto the ground. Delirious scrambled over the ground away from The Hillbilly as it stood over him, raising its hammer high above its head.

 

Delirious braced himself for an impact, but there wasn’t any. He opened his eyes again and saw that Mark and Jack had appeared and were distracting The Hillbilly, giving Delirious the time to stand up again.

 

The Hillbilly roared in fury, and then it slipped its hammer into a belt around its waist and reached out with the now free hand. Its long fingers closed on the back of Mark’s head and it threw him forward. The impact to the ground left Mark stunned momentarily, and he went still.

 

“Mark!” Jack cried, racing forward to get Mark out of danger.

 

The Hillbilly turned on Jack as he reached Mark, but Delirious ran up and leaped onto the monster’s shoulders. The Hillbilly roared in confusion and fury, swinging around madly. Eventually, Delirious was knocked off and he fell onto the ground. The air was knocked out of him, and in the moment that it took for him to recover, The Hillbilly had pulled its hammer out again.

 

Delirious let out a cry of pain when the hard end of the hammer was slammed onto his left arm. He clutched it with his other hand and tried to stand once more, but when he rolled over, The Hillbilly placed one foot on his back, holding him against the ground.

 

Jack had just gotten Mark to a safer location, a little distance away from where The Hillbilly and Delirious were, and now he was running back to assist Delirious with the monster. What he found almost made him scream, but he held it in.

 

The Hillbilly had set down its chainsaw, but it was too heavy for Jack to pick up, so he didn’t even try. Besides, it was too close to The Hillbilly anyways. The Hillbilly had set its chainsaw down and picked up Delirious by the back of his sweater, and it had grabbed his shirt underneath as well, making it harder for Delirious to escape. The Hillbilly twisted its wrist around so that Delirious was forced to look into its ugly face. The monster raised its hammer high above its head again, and Delirious knew that he could be killed if it was aimed at his head.

 

Delirious swung a bit and kicked his leg up, the bottom of his shoe landing flat in The Hillbilly’s face.

 

“H2O, catch!” Jack yelled suddenly.

 

Delirious looked in Jack’s direction in time to see a hook flying towards him and reached out and caught it in his hand. Jack must have spotted it nearby and quickly dismantled it for a weapon.

 

The Hillbilly was about to try swinging at Delirious again, but Delirious made his move first. He raised the hook and quickly brought it down, the pointed end of it sinking into the top of The Hillbilly’s head. The monster paused, as though it hadn’t yet registered what had just happened. Delirious started kicking at The Hillbilly’s chest, pulling on the hook at the same time. There was a horrible ripping noise as The Hillbilly’s head was torn off.

 

Delirious was dropped to ground and the hook landing next to him, the head still on it. The Hillbilly’s mangled corpse landed with a loud  _ thud _ and was still. Jack stared in shock at the limp form of the killer, and then looked at Delirious, who was just as shocked.

 

Then, to their utter bewilderment, The Hillbilly’s corpse began to melt. It turned into what looked to be thick, black oil before seeping into the ground. The spot where the body had been just seconds before was left spotless, clean, as though nothing had ever happened.

 

“What the hell was that?!” Jack and Delirious looked over to see Mark had managed to stand up, and he was staring at the now clear area with wide eyes.

 

“Mark, are you okay?” Jack asked out of concern.

 

Delirious stood up, grabbed the now-headless hook, and walked over to Jack and Mark. He saw now that Mark’s forehead had a bloody gash, the red liquid was staining the side of his face.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. But what just happened?” Mark asked, looking between Jack and Delirious.

 

“There you guys are.” Avery suddenly appeared out of the cornstalks, making Jack, Mark, and Delirious jump. “Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” She apologized. Then Avery noticed that Mark was bleeding, and that Delirious was holding his left arm. “What happened to you guys?” she asked.

 

“We were attacked by The Hillbilly.” Jack explained. “Mark got hurt, and H2O managed to kill it.”

 

Avery looked at Delirious with a shocked expression. “Wait, you what?!” she gasped.

 

“Killed the fucking killer,” Delirious said, crossing his arms triumphantly.

 

“Wow, I didn’t realize we could do that.” Avery seemed unable to comprehend what she was hearing.

 

“What’s in the bag, Avery?” Mark asked, motioning to the backpack over Avery’s shoulders.

 

“Oh, I found some stuff we need. Did you guys find a generator?” Avery asked.

 

“Yeah, but we never finished it. The Hillbilly showed up and we had that epic showdown,” Delirious explained.

 

“Oh, well, let’s get back to the hideout for now,” Avery said.

 

Mark, Jack, and Delirious followed Avery back to the Killer’s Shack and through the hatch into the hideout, where Avery split up the food and water rations that had been inside the bag she’d found. There had also been a first-aid kit with it all, so Avery patched Mark’s head up, too.

 

“So, I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark here and guess that The Hillbilly won’t be gone forever and leaving us with freerun of the entire map.” Avery said.

 

“That would be nice, though. Wouldn’t have to worry about getting killed or anything like that.” Jack put in.

 

“Yeah, but then this would all be too easy.” Avery sighed. “Mark, stop picking at it!” she exclaimed suddenly.

 

Jack and Delirious looked over to Mark, where he was rubbing the patch over his head wound.

 

“But it’s so bothersome. . . It itches!” Mark complained.

 

“They always are at first, but you’ll get used to it after a while.” Avery explained.

 

“How do you know all this?” Jack asked.

 

“I got hurt a lot when I was younger, and my mom is also a doctor, so I know a lot of first-aid stuff, too,” Avery said. “So, I’m the one to come to if any of you get hurt.”

 

“Oh, that’s very helpful,” Jack said enthusiastically, glad that there was something to count on.

 

“So, what are we going to do now?” Delirious asked.

 

They had already eaten a small portion of their rations of food, so at least they had some extra energy, now.

 

“Well, I don’t know how long The Hillbilly might be out of commission, so let’s try to fix as many generators as possible in a short amount of time.” Avery suggested.

 

“Sounds like a plan,” Delirious said.

 

“Just ta be sure,” Jack started. Avery and Delirious looked at him, while Mark slipped his hands underneath him so that he wouldn’t start picking at the patch on his forehead again. “Let’s take a hook or two with us this time so that if The Hillbilly does reappear, we’ll be able to defend ourselves.”

 

“Good idea,” Avery said.

 

“Can we go, then? Because my own hands are driving me crazy, now,” Mark said.

 

Avery stood up, and Delirious followed, and soon Mark and Jack were going after them through the hatch.


	3. Day Two Discussions And Expeditions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now things get started.

Jack came out of his peaceful sleep slowly, and it took him a few seconds to realize where he was. He was in the hideout beneath the Killer’s Shack on Coldwind Farm. Jack sighed. He’d actually been hoping to find himself in his apartment again, and that all of this had just been a dream. But it was all real.

 

Just like what had happened several hours earlier was all real and had actually happened. After The Hillbilly had been killed by Delirious, the four of them had all gone out to find and repair as many generators as possible in a short amount of time. The group never managed to relocate the generator in The Rotten Fields, but they had found four others and gotten those working again. One other thing that the group had done was discover what the delicious/disgusting smell was.

 

Delirious had been right. It had been coming off the cow tree. When Jack had seen the ripped up cow corpses, he’d actually gotten sick for a moment.

 

Jack sat up and looked over at Mark, who was still asleep. Avery and Delirious were, too. Jack squinted at the watch around Avery’s wrist.

 

5:09am, it read.

 

This was the second time that Jack was seeing that number. Last time it had been pm, and according to Avery, it had been a little before 5am when she woke up inside the game the first time. That meant that with the game’s time span, it had been at least twenty-four hours. A full day had now passed, and it left Jack wondering what was going on in the real world. Back home.

 

Jack stood up and went outside for a minute or two before heading back into the hideout. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor.

 

What was happening back home? Avery had said that what was written in the Journal was that their actual bodies were left behind, each in a coma. Jack had broken up with his girlfriend several months earlier after he’d realized who the person he was truly in love with was, so he lived alone. It was also written in the Journal that if they died inside the game, they were also dead in the real world. Everything would then be over if that happened.

 

Jack glanced over at Mark again, who was still sleeping soundly. A sudden thought occurred to Jack and he felt his eyes well up with tears.

 

Mark stirred and blinked open his eyes. The first thing he saw was the stone wall. The first thing he heard was a faint sob. He turned over and saw the spot where Jack had gone to sleep was empty, but he quickly found Jack at the base of the steps. His legs were pulled up against his chest, and Jack was holding his arms curled around his knees. Jack also had his head resting on his arms, and it didn’t look like he’d noticed that Mark was awake yet.

 

Mark felt something in his chest hurt when he heard another sob from Jack. Slowly, Mark got to his feet and went over to Jack. When Mark sat down next to Jack, he raised his head for a moment before returning it to its previous position.

 

“Hey,” Mark said.

 

“Hi,” Jack replied quietly, his voice wavering. He didn’t lift his head up again, though.

 

“You want to tell me what’s wrong?” Mark asked softly after a few seconds.

 

Jack sniffed. “I miss. . . I miss home,” he said hesitantly.

 

Mark looked at the still sleeping forms of Avery and Delirious, then at the floor in front of him. “I’m sure we all do, Jack.” Mark looked once again at his best friend.

 

Jack lifted his head again slowly and turned his gaze on Mark. A few tears slipped from his eyes and Mark wiped them away with his hand.

 

“What. . .” Jack paused for a moment to collect himself before starting again. “What do you think is going on back home?” he asked.

 

Mark hadn’t actually thought about it before. The subject hadn’t really come to mind ever since he’d woken up inside the game the first time.

 

“Well,” Mark thought about how to answer Jack’s question. “I can imagine that our friends and families are worried,” he said finally.

 

Jack let out a shaky sigh. “I’m afraid. . .” he stopped to wipe his eyes of tears.

 

“Afraid of what?” Mark asked, keeping his voice soft.

 

“Afraid of dying,” Jack answered.

 

“We all are,” Mark stated.

 

“I’m not just afraid of dying myself, but I’m also scared that one of you will get killed.” Jack admitted, lowering his head a little.

 

Mark moved a little closer to Jack. “I won’t let that happen, Jack,” he said. “I’ll make sure that nothing will happen to me or the others.”

 

Jack looked up at Mark with a small smile. He liked hearing Mark say that he was going to protect him, but Jack wanted to do the same for Mark. “We have to protect each other,” he said.

 

“That would be logical.” Mark thought out loud.

 

Jack gave a small laugh. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said.

 

Mark and Jack sat in silence for a couple of minutes, before Mark brought something up that surprised Jack a little.

 

“Remember when we played  _ Dead By Daylight _ with Bob and Wade?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, I do,” Jack said.

 

“Best moment in my opinion would probably have to be when Bob discovered that he could get stuck in his own traps,” Mark said, looking back to that moment.

 

Jack thought back as well, and another small smile formed on his lips. Then it disappeared a second later. “I don’t really want anything to do with this game anymore,” he said.

 

Mark looked at him. “Neither do I, really,” he said.

 

“So, after we get out of this mess, we’ll never have anything to do with this game again?” Jack decided.

 

Mark nodded. “Why would anyone want to play any game after they were trapped inside of it for who knows how long?” he said.

 

“We’ve been here for about a day,” Jack explained. “In the game’s time at least.”

 

“That’s a long time,” Mark said. “I suddenly wonder how much time has passed back home by now?” his eyes went blank with thought.

 

“Let’s just assume that it’s doubled,” Jack said. Mark looked at him in confusion, so Jack explained. “Like, say that for every twelve hours here, twenty-four have passed back home.”

 

“Oh, that would make sense. But then that would also mean that two days have passed already.” Mark pointed out.

 

Jack sighed. “I know.”

 

“Hey, you want to know something?” Mark asked.

 

“What?” Jack looked into Mark’s dark brown eyes. He felt his heart flutter at how deeply that Mark seemed to be looking back at him.

 

Delirious groaned slightly and blinked open his eyes. He was hearing something he thought he never would in a place like this; laughter. He turned over and saw that it was Jack talking to Mark.

 

“Morning,” he yawned. “Or is it afternoon?” he asked a second later.

 

“It’s morning. Like, five twenty in it,” Jack said.

 

“Holy shit, time has passed. How long does that mean we’ve been here? A day?” Delirious asked, sitting up and stretching.

 

“Yeah, about a day.” Mark confirmed.

 

“Sorry if we woke you.” Jack apologized.

 

“No, that’s okay. I feel rested enough,” Delirious said, adjusting his mask so it was straight. He looked over at Avery, who was still asleep. She looked as though she wouldn’t be woken by anything but herself, so Delirious asked, “What now?”

 

“Well, we could go out and look for tha generator in the cornfield.” Jack suggested.

 

“Sounds like a plan to me. We never did find it,” Mark said.

 

He stood up and Jack pushed himself onto his feet again. He wobbled a little for a moment from a head rush before he was steady again. Mark and Jack headed out first, and Delirious looked back at Avery one last time before following after them. They climbed out of the hatch and went outside, stopping to think about which direction they had gone when they found The Rotten Fields.

 

“Which way was it?” Jack asked.

 

“I don’t know. This way?” Mark guessed looking to the left.

 

Delirious was examining the surrounding area closely, thinking back to that first trip out. “No, I believe that it’s this way,” he said, heading straight.

 

“You sure?” Jack asked.

 

“No.” Delirious admitted. He looked around once more and spotted a way up the Killer’s Shack. He went over and started pulling himself up to the roof. Once he reached it, he was shocked by how much of Coldwind Farm he could see. The Silo was just barely visible in the distance, and the large fire by the cow tree was easy to notice from here. Delirious turned in a circle, taking in the view and surrounding areas.

 

“Well? H2O, what do ya see?” Jack called up to him.

 

“Practically everything!” Delirious replied. “Holy fuck.” he added quietly to himself. Delirious then spotted something he was hoping that he wouldn’t see. The Hillbilly. “Uh, guys, we have a bit of a problem.” he called down to Mark and Jack.

 

“What? Can you not see The Rotten Fields from up there?” Mark asked.

 

“No, I can see them, just over there.” Delirious pointed to his right. “But it looks like Avery was right about us not getting the freerun of the map. The Hillbilly is back.”

 

Mark and Jack looked at each other, then back up at Delirious, who was now climbing down the Killer’s Shack.

 

“Where is it right now?” Jack asked.

 

“Around the Silo, which isn’t too close to the fields, but it still worries me,” Delirious said.

 

“How does that layout make sense? Why would they build the corn Silo far from the cornfield?” Jack asked.

 

“If I remember correctly, the Silo and The Rotten Fields are two different maps.” Delirious said.

 

“Well, then let’s just hope that fookin’ monster won’t catch up to us anytime soon,” Jack said nervously.

 

Mark and Delirious agreed and Delirious led them towards The Rotten Fields. They walked past the empty hook pillar from earlier, and when they came to the edge of the cornstalks, they decided to spread out a little, so that they might find the generator sooner. Jack wandered around, listening for the rumbling that the generator would be making, since it was nearly repaired.

 

“Hey, guys! It’s over here!” Mark called to them suddenly.

 

Jack headed towards Mark’s voice, nearly running straight into Delirious when he stopped. The generator was making its usual rumbling that indicated the repairs done to it, and Jack suddenly realized how quiet it actually was from a distance. They wouldn’t have been able to hear it unless they were really close to the machine.

 

Jack and Delirious started helping Mark fix the generator. Delirious was the one who kept his ears open and listening for any sound that would signal The Hillbilly being nearby. Finally, the light above the generator came on and Mark, Jack, and Delirious ran from the scene. They must have gone in a different direction, because the scenery when they came out of the cornfield was different.

 

“Where to now?” Jack asked.

 

“Might be best if we went back to the hideout.” Mark said carefully, as he looked around cautiously.

 

Delirious knew why Mark had this sudden sense of caution. He could feel another presence around them, and it obviously wasn’t Jack.

 

“We better hurry, though.” Delirious said.

 

“Yeah, but how do we get back?” Jack whispered, picking up on Mark’s and Delirious’ quietness.

 

“We could try going back through the corn?” Delirious suggested.

 

Mark and Jack were silent. They didn’t know what would be the best option, since it was obvious that The Hillbilly was closing in on them. Even Delirious was unsure now, and he could feel his heart beating faster in chest. Then they heard the whirring.

 

“Run!” Delirious said quickly, trying to keep his voice quiet even as he shouted.

 

“Where?!” Jack demanded as he, Mark, and Delirious started off in a random direction.

 

“I don’t know! Anywhere will do as long as we can lose it,” Delirious panted.

 

That was all that Jack needed to hear, because he started running with Mark right behind him towards what looked like the Slaughterhouse. They stopped to catch their breath after checking to make sure that The Hillbilly wasn’t following, but when they looked around properly, they also realized that Delirious was no longer with them.

 

“Where did he go?” Jack looked around.

 

“He’s over there.” Mark pointed suddenly to the other side of the Slaughterhouse.

 

Delirious was crouched behind a small stone fence, and The Hillbilly was prowling around the other side of it. Mark and Jack quickly ducked out of sight and made their way towards Delirious. He saw them and held out his hand, telling them to stop. Mark and Jack got out of the way and Delirious looked over the wall one last time before going to join them.

 

“He found us quick, so I tried to get him away from you guys while you ran.” Delirious explained.

 

“Doesn’t seem to have mattered, though,” Jack said.

 

“Not if we can’t get away unseen.” Delirious pointed out.

 

“Well, it’s too late for that,” Mark said quickly. “Run!” he screamed.

 

The Hillbilly had found them and the three of them got out of the way of its chainsaw in time before getting hit. The chainsaw scraped the wall and The Hillbilly took a moment to recover. Mark, Jack, and Delirious were running through the Slaughterhouse, dodging around the hanging corpses of gutted cows, until they reached the opposite door, where they quickly went around the side and pressed themselves against the wall.

 

The Hillbilly was stalking around the dead cows hanging from the ceiling, and it was glaring angrily at each one, as though everything had always been its fault. Jack started inching down the wall, making his way towards the corner where he would be able to break and run. Delirious quickly figured out what he was doing, signaled for Mark to follow, and copied Jack.

 

But then The Hillbilly came around the corner and spotted the three of them. It reached out quickly and grabbed a hold of Mark’s arm, pulling him back towards itself. Mark’s surprised cry made Delirious and Jack stop. Delirious made to grab Mark’s other hand, but The Hillbilly had already pulled him too far away. It started dragging Mark by his arm instead of carrying him over its shoulder and went back through the Slaughterhouse.

 

Jack ran around the building to try and cut The Hillbilly off while Delirious followed it through the Slaughterhouse. He tried to grab Mark again, but somehow The Hillbilly pulled ahead and took Mark just out of reach. Mark was clawing at the monster’s hand in attempts to pry it off his arm, but The Hillbilly only seemed to hold tighter.

 

The Hillbilly reached the other side of the Slaughterhouse where Jack appeared in front of it. The Hillbilly was stopped short for several seconds at the sudden appearance.

 

Those few seconds were enough for Delirious to get close. He started prying at The Hillbilly’s long, boney fingers, and even managed to loosen them.

 

But it wasn’t enough.

 

The Hillbilly recovered and swung at Jack, but missed. Then it turned around and threw an attack at Delirious with its hammer.

 

Delirious ducked in time, avoiding a hard blow to the head. The Hillbilly picked Mark up by the ankle, hanging him just inches above the ground. It was by his left foot, so it wasn’t causing Mark too much pain, but it still hurt.

 

“No you don’t!” Delirious shouted, leaping forward and grabbing the hammer as The Hillbilly raised it.

 

Jack came up from behind and grabbed the arm that was holding Mark. The Hillbilly roared in confusion, swinging its head back and forth from Mark to Jack to Delirious. Delirious ripped the hammer from The Hillbilly’s hand, but he pulled away with too much force and fell backwards, the hammer sliding a foot or two over the blood covered floor. The Hillbilly was distracted by this long enough to give Jack a chance to do something. He took the hammer from Delirious before The Hillbilly could reach it and threw it at the monster’s arm. It dropped Mark and quickly retrieved its weapon before running at Jack.

 

Delirious was on his feet again, and he was getting Mark back on his own. Once the two of them were standing again, they ran from the Slaughterhouse once they were sure that Jack could escape and was following them close behind.

 

“How do we know where to go?!” Mark panted as they ran.

 

“We don’t!” Delirious gasped. “Just keep running!”

 

Jack glanced behind them to see how far apart from The Hillbilly they were, but a second later he wished he hadn’t; it was right behind them, charging up fast.

 

“Look out!” he shouted the warning and Mark and Delirious immediately split, taking a sharp turn in opposite directions.

 

Jack doubled back, getting out of The Hillbilly’s way in time. He went to run after Mark when a splitting pain exploded in his side, just under his arm. He gasped with pain as he forced himself to ignore it and keep running onwards. He was glad when he realized that The Hillbilly was no longer following him, but frustrated with himself because now he was lost in The Rotten Fields.

 

Delirious and Mark had met up again, and were now looking for Jack. They had found and crossed through The Rotten Fields and knew how to get back to the hideout from there, but they wouldn’t without Jack. For all they knew, The Hillbilly could have gotten a hold of him and Jack could already be dead.

 

“Jack?!” Mark called out.

 

“There yeh are!” Delirious and Mark turned to see Jack stepping out of the corn.

 

“Was the thing behind you?” Delirious asked.

 

Jack shook his head. “No, it looks like it lost us,” he said.

 

Mark let out a relieved sigh. “Well, then we should really get back. Avery could be awake and wondering where we are. She might go looking for us,” he said.

 

Jack nodded. “Yeah, we don’t want that. Causing Avery to panic is the last thing we need to do right now.”

 

Mark, Delirious, and Jack started heading back to the hideout, and were thankful that they didn’t meet The Hillbilly again.

  
When they got back, they found that Avery was just waking up.


	4. Unwanted Mayhem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG! I almost forgot to publish this chapter! oAo
> 
> But I didn't! So yay! :D
> 
> I will say this right now, just so I don't forget and as a warning. You guys may or may not start to hate me after this chapter.... Just so you know......

Avery awoke to the sound of thudding footsteps. She opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing them of sleep. She saw Mark, Jack, and Delirious coming off the stairs and looked at them in slight confusion.

 

“Did you guys go somewhere?” she asked, tilting her head curiously.

 

Jack opened his mouth to answer, but what came out wasn’t words, but a cry of pain. He fell to his knees with one hand holding him up and the other was placed on his ribcage.

 

“Jack!?” Mark exclaimed, getting on the floor next to him.

 

Avery flew to her feet and helped Mark assist Jack into the open area of the room. They placed him against the wall and he was suddenly breathing heavily, and each breath sounded pained and forced.

 

“Jack, what happened?!” Avery demanded as Delirious brought the first-aid kit over.

 

“We. . . we went out ta find that-” Jack was cut off by another stab of pain in his side.

 

“We went to look for the generator in The Rotten Fields and finish repairing it. We managed to do that, but we got attacked by The Hillbilly. That’s all I know. Jack must have gotten hit or something.” Mark explained.

 

Avery took the kit from Delirious and gently touched the spot where Jack was holding his hand.

 

“Feels like a broken rib or two. Jack, does it hurt anywhere else?” Avery looked into Jack’s eyes.

 

Jack shook his head. Delirious stood back to give Avery room, but Mark stayed close to Jack’s other side.

 

“Okay, Jack, just try to slow your breathing.” Avery instructed.

 

Jack’s breath grew slower and he winced in pain every time he inhaled.

 

“Just try to keep it slow and steady, Jack. If it starts to hurt then let the air out,” Avery said.

 

She took out a small bandage from the first-aid kit and taped it over the bleeding scratch on Jack’s chest where he’d been hit. The pain had subsided some, but Jack could still feel it, and moving just a little made it slightly worse.

 

“I don’t think that I can walk right now,” He said. “It hurts just ta move.”

 

Avery was quiet for a moment as she thought, and then she looked over at the note with the number eight written on it. There were six marks, which left two generators to go.

 

Avery looked back at Jack. “Then you don’t have to,” she said. “Mark, Delirious, and I can go out and find the last two generators while you stay here and rest. Unless one of you want to stay as well?” Avery looked at Mark and Delirious.

 

“No, I’m fine,” Jack said. “I’m okay on my own.”

 

“You sure?” Mark asked.

 

Jack could tell that he didn’t want to leave him alone. Probably considering what happened on Autohaven Wrecker’s when he’d stayed back at the treehouse alone to rest while Jack and Delirious had both gone out to look for Avery.

 

“Yes, I’m sure.” Jack insisted. “Besides, the sooner we have the last generators fixed, the sooner we can get the fook out of here.” he added.

 

“I can’t argue with that,” Delirious said.

 

Avery sighed. “Not really.”

 

“We won’t be gone long, though, right?” Mark asked, looking at Avery.

 

“I guess that we could make it as quick as we can,” she said.

 

Avery made her way towards the stairs and started heading up, stopping halfway up the staircase. Delirious waited at the bottom. Mark looked at Jack and sighed. Jack let his head rest against the wall behind him and closed his eyes.

 

Mark followed Avery and Delirious out of the hideout again and closed the hatch behind him.

 

In a short amount of time, Jack gradually dozed off, and when he woke up again later the pain in his chest was gone. Carefully, Jack moved a little to test out his side. He was able to stand up without much pain, and made it over to the stairs before there was a small twinge of pain.

 

Jack didn’t know how much time had passed since Mark, Avery, and Delirious had left, but he wanted to find and help them now that he could move. Jack went up the steps and out the hatch, stopping to look around once outside the Killer’s Shack. He had no idea which way the others could have gone, and since he also didn’t know how much time had passed, Jack had no idea how far they would have gone, either.

 

Jack circled the shack a few times, trying to figure out the surrounding area. Behind the shack was what looked like a wall, so Jack guessed that it was in one of the corners of the map. What helped with the theory was the wall on the next side going the other direction. For some reason, Jack felt a sudden curiosity to see what was in the very corner, so he started heading towards the small point where the two walls connected.

 

He looked back and found that the Killer’s Shack was quickly getting a distance away, and began to wonder when Mark, Avery, and Delirious would return. What if they didn’t? What if Mark didn’t? Jack shook his head and pushed the thought away. He couldn’t let himself think about Mark getting hurt. . . or worse.

 

Jack finally reached the wall’s connecting point and stopped. He examined the small area and discovered a generator nearby. It wasn’t at all worked on, so obviously no one had yet found it. But now Jack had found it, and he quickly went over to it and kneeled down next to the machine. He started re-attaching the wires and the generator gradually began to rumble as it started to work.

 

Jack finished the wires and moved on to the loose bolts and screws, testing them until he was sure that they were tightened. Once all of the other pieces were fixed, and the generator’s light came on above him, Jack started heading back to the shack. Now that he was back in the hideout, he was wondering if the others would still be looking for another generator after fixing the last one. All that Jack could do right now was wait for them to come back.

* * *

Avery, Mark, and Delirious left the Killer’s Shack with Jack still inside the hideout behind them as they went out to search for the final generators. They passed the already dismantled hook near the shack, and tried to decide which way to go.

 

“We could head towards The Thompson House, or we could take the Silo.” Avery was saying.

 

“I took care of the generator inside the Silo,” Delirious said.

 

Avery looked as though she were thinking hard, trying to remember where the generators were often found on the different areas on the Coldwind Farm map. Her expression brightened when something suddenly came to mind. “We could try the cow tree. There’s sometimes one over there,” she said.

 

Mark and Delirious looked at each other.

 

“But. . . where is that tree?” Delirious looked around them.

 

“I have no idea. Which is weird, because we passed it awhile ago!” Avery exclaimed.

 

Mark was looking into the distance, and then he suddenly got it. “I think it was that way.” He pointed in the opposite direction of the shack.

 

Delirious and Avery followed his gaze.

 

“Seems that way,” Delirious said. “I mean, The Rotten Fields are there, and the shack is back that way. We had been walking straight for a while when we came across the tree.” He gestured in the direction of the cornfield and the shack when he mention them and then looked back at Avery.

 

“All right, then I guess that we’re going this way?” she said uncertainly.

 

Delirious and Mark didn’t move.

 

“Delirious, why don’t you lead the way since you seem to know where we’re going?” Avery suggested.

 

Delirious shrugged. “Okay, I don’t see why not,” he said and started walking in the direction of the cow tree.

 

Mark and Avery followed him, looking out for The Hillbilly as they walked. After a while, they came across small ruins of what must have once been a storage shed for the tractor or something. They would have normally paid no mind to it, since they already knew that the generator wasn’t there, because they had looked, but not hard enough. The found no generator, but had also looked over a hook placed in the middle of the collapsed brick walls.

 

“How did we miss that?” Mark wondered.

 

“Who knows. Maybe we’re blind with some things?” Avery shrugged.

 

Delirious was growing nervous for some reason. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he was getting a strange feeling in his gut, like something was about to happen. Something bad. He wanted to tell Mark and Avery, but instead kept it to himself and joined them in taking the hook down. He helped Mark lift Avery onto the stand where she started playing with the clip to undo it.

 

“You okay, Delirious?” Mark asked suddenly, causing Delirious to jump a little.

 

“What? Yeah, I’m fine.” Delirious lied. “Why?” he asked, looking at Mark carefully.

 

“You seem a bit. . . I don’t know. . .” Mark tried to think of the word. “Anxious, maybe?” he shrugged at himself.

 

“I. . .” Delirious kept looking around them nervously. “I don’t know. I just don’t feel safe in this area for some reason,” he said.

 

Avery rolled her eyes and huffed. “None of us are safe outside the hideout, Delirious,” she said.

 

Delirious gave her an embarrassed laugh. “Right. . .” he looked at the ground.

 

“God damnit! The stupid strap is all tangled up and shit,” Avery grumbled.

 

Mark and Delirious both looked straight up at her. “Did you just swear?” the both asked at the same time.

 

Avery flattened herself against the stand as she laughed. Mark and Delirious had looked at each other quickly before looking back at Avery. Avery pushed herself up again and wiped her eyes.

 

“Holy crap!” she gasped. “Just hearing you two talk at once is somehow hilarious!” she said.

 

“Well, you kinda shocked us, Avery!” Delirious exclaimed.

 

“You’re both so ridiculous,” Avery said, letting out a long breath. “I swear all the time. My parents have nothing against it.”

 

“Oh,” Mark felt like an idiot all of a sudden.

 

Avery was about to start untangling the binding when they all heard it. The chainsaw. Avery quickly jumped down from the stand and stood between Mark and Delirious, who were looking around.

 

“I knew that something wasn’t right.” Delirious mumbled.

 

The whirring grew louder, and then the three of them spun around when it came up behind them. The Hillbilly was charging, and it swung its chainsaw madly. Mark, Delirious, and Avery scattered, sending The Hillbilly into desperate confusion. It finally chose to go after Avery, but turned back to chase Mark, and then Avery again.

 

Delirious had run after The Hillbilly, and then it turned to chase him. Just like Delirious wanted. He was giving Mark and Avery a chance to get back together before they came to help him out of his situation. Delirious knocked over a pallet, stopping The Hillbilly in its tracks. There were only two openings to enter the small clearing of what must have once been the inside of the shed, and both had a pallet leaned up in them. The Hillbilly went around the building, but Delirious knocked the other pallet over before it got to the opening. He quickly hid inside a closet that was standing in the corner and held his breath.

 

Mark and Avery, once they realized that Delirious had led The Hillbilly away, had met up again, and were now sneaking back to the hook. They found it again, but froze when the sound of stomping feet reached their ears. Mark and Avery ducked behind one of the walls, looking over the top of a gap that was once a window.

 

The Hillbilly was growling as it ambled around the half dismantled hook, stopping every now and then to look around. With no other choice, Mark and Avery turned around and snuck away again, going unseen by the enemy. They stopped by the edge of the cornfield, which was close by the collapsed tractor shed.

 

“What do we do?” Mark asked.

 

“I don’t know,” Avery said. “I do know that we need to find Delirious.”

 

“Yeah, but where is he?” Mark looked around. “He led The Hillbilly away from us, but where did he go after that?” Mark said. “Hope he’s okay. . .”

 

Delirious was standing as silently as he could inside the closet. He could now hear The Hillbilly’s chainsaw whirring loudly around him, coming from a different direction with every second that passed. He heard wood breaking, and knew that The Hillbilly had broken one of the pallets. Delirious held his breath once more and gulped. He heard the other pallet get smashed to pieces, and then it was quiet.

 

Delirious could not only feel, but also hear his heart pounding against his chest, and was starting to sweat from fear. He was even shaking a little as the footsteps of The Hillbilly thudded just outside the closet. The thumping of his heart got slightly harder every time that the footsteps stopped, and Delirious had to hold in a sigh of relief each time nothing happened and the footsteps resumed.

 

He wasn’t out of danger yet.

 

The loud thuds of The Hillbilly’s footsteps grew louder, and then they stopped. Delirious shut his eyes tightly when all fell quiet. They shot open again when he heard the closet’s doors get thrown open. The Hillbilly saw him, and Delirious let out a shriek when it slammed its hammer into the back of the closet, landing it just centimeters from Delirious’ face.

 

Instead of grabbing Delirious by his shirt and throwing him over its shoulder like all the killers did, The Hillbilly let go of its hammer, which was embedded in the wood of the closet, and then it quickly wrapped its long fingers around Delirious’ throat. It lifted him up and out of the closet, and Delirious was shocked by the monster’s strength as he grabbed its wrist, trying to pull its hand off his throat.

 

The Hillbilly stared Delirious right in the eyes, simply watching as he choked. Then, just as Delirious felt lightheaded from lack of oxygen, The Hillbilly spun on the spot and threw him to the ground. Delirious rolled several feet before coming to a stop. He was gasping for air and wasn’t able to recover before The Hillbilly picked him up again. Only this time by the hood of his sweater.

 

Delirious began to slip his arms through the sleeves so that he might escape, but The Hillbilly made its next move too quickly. It had yanked its hammer out of the closet, and was now holding it so that the sharpened end of the handle was facing up. The Hillbilly stuck its arm outward and then swung over Delirious’ front. He screamed in pain as the splintered wood ripped his T-Shirt and cut the skin beneath, staining his shirt red with blood.

 

Mark and Avery heard the cry of pain, and knew immediately that Delirious was in trouble. They quickly started running towards the scream, hoping that they weren’t too late.

 

The Hillbilly dropped Delirious back onto the ground, where he tried to cover his bleeding wound with his hands. The Hillbilly kicked Delirious so that he rolled over onto his stomach, and then picked him up by the back of sweater, also clenching the shirt underneath. The monster placed him over his shoulder and started walking.

 

Delirious began to panic. His front hurt bad, and he was being carried away by The Hillbilly.

 

“HAAAAALLLLPPP! MARK! AVERY! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS!?” Delirious began kicking the Hillbilly and pounded his fists against the monster’s back, hoping that it would do  _ something _ . “PUT ME DOWN YOU BITCH!” Delirious raged, pressing his hands flat against The Hillbilly’s thick back and pushing.

 

He was trying to squeeze himself out of the killer’s grip, but it was all hopeless. Delirious looked around wildly, his heart pounding painfully now against his ribcage, his breath growing uneven with panic, and his voice getting hoarse from yelling.

 

“GUYS, PLEASE! I REALLY COULD USE YOUR HELP RIGHT NOW! I DON’T WANNA DIE!” Delirious shouted.

 

He started struggling madly against The Hillbilly’s hold, and it was then that he looked ahead of it. His eyes widened with terror as he spotted the menacing black hook just yards away, growing closer by the second as The Hillbilly went towards it.

 

“HEEEEELLLLPPP!!” Delirious tried again, but no one was coming. He couldn’t see Avery or Mark anywhere.

 

Avery and Mark were desperately searching for Delirious, they had found the shed ruins again, but were unsure of where they were supposed to go next.

 

Delirious knew that it was all about to be over.

 

No one was coming to save him.

 

Because the people who could save him, couldn’t  _ find  _ him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another reason you may hate me is because of my publishing schedule. Now you have to wait until next Tuesday :D
> 
> But hey. At least I'm not going by my previous plans for the publishing schedule, which was only on Mondays. Be happy it's 4 days and not a full week! |:(


	5. Hooked

Delirious was frantic as The Hillbilly stopped walking, and he knew that it was too late to be saved when the monster adjusted its grip, lowering its hands so it was holding Delirious around his waist. Delirious made one last attempt to save himself by grabbing The Hillbilly’s back, but there was nothing to grab onto, and his fingers slid pointlessly over the torn and dirty tank top The Hillbilly wore.

 

Something jabbed him in the back, but then it turned into an exploding pain that spread throughout his entire body and Delirious let out an ear-piercing shriek of bloody murder. Blood sprayed out in front of him, staining The Hillbilly’s front side, but the monster didn’t care. It instead walked away, leaving Delirious to die.

 

The agony was too immense, and Delirious had already screamed so much and so hard that his throat was now sore, and he could even taste blood on the inside of his mouth. It went to the back of his throat and he started choking on it. Delirious coughed from it, staining the inside of his mask with blood and saliva from his throat. Some of it spilled through the holes in his mask, and tears started leaking out from his eyes,

 

If the huge amount of agony that Delirious felt right now wasn’t bad enough, he now had to hold back the urge to throw up. It wasn’t just because of the pain that Delirious wanted to puke, it was also because of what he saw in front of him. The Hillbilly was gone, but the killer wasn’t Delirious’ problem anymore. Death was. Delirious had to hold down the bile rising in his stomach so that he didn’t make his situation worse, but the whole reason that it was there in the first place was from what he could see on the hook that had impaled his shoulder.

 

It wasn’t just stained red with his blood, there were other things on the metal, too. Delirious could see a small chunk of something lodged onto the tip, and he could only guess that it was his flesh. His muscle had been shredded and some of it torn right out of his body. Then there were the small, dark, blood covered shards that specked the hook. Pieces of his collarbone and shoulder blade, Delirious guessed.

 

Great, his shoulder had been completely torn apart. There was little to no chance that he would ever be able to use his left arm again after this.

 

If he even got out of this situation  _ alive _ .

 

Mark and Avery were the ones who were frantic, now. After he screamed bloody murder, they were racing towards the only place that Delirious could be; on the hook that they had been dismantling. Only, they had a bit of a problem.

 

The Hillbilly had found them and was chasing them around. The first thing about The Hillbilly they noticed was the large red stain on its front. It was blood, and the blood could only belong to Delirious. The sight of it only made them more desperate, and for all they knew, Delirious could already be dead.

 

While Mark and Avery were facing their own problems, Delirious’ was only getting worse. He could feel pressure growing in his left shoulder, and realized that the hook was slowly tearing through what was left in his shoulder. If he didn’t do something fast, the hook would eventually just tear his shoulder right open.  _ That _ would kill Delirious instantly for sure.

 

Delirious raised his arms and gripped the hook with his hands, holding himself up. The pressure was somewhat lifted, but now his strength was only draining faster. Then Delirious realized that only one of his hands was holding onto the bloody hook that was killing him faster by the second. He looked down at his left arm and saw that it was now just hanging limply at his side.

 

That just proved it. His left arm was gone.

 

Delirious was blinded by the amount of tears spilling from his eyes and he sobbed pathetically as ripples of pain spread throughout his body. Where were Mark and Avery? Why hadn’t they found him yet? Had they left him to die because they both thought that he was already dead? Delirious shook his head violently to get rid of the disturbing thoughts, but he immediately regretted it. He gasped painfully and clenched his teeth, panting through his nose as he held back another scream of agony.

 

A second later, Delirious could feel the pressure returning to his shoulder as his right arm went limp and simply hung there. Now all his hand was doing was lying over the hook, slowly slipping down until it finally fell off and swung down to his side. Another scream of pain escaped his mouth as more blood spilled from the wound in his shoulder, staining the front of his shirt and inside of his sweater.

 

Then Delirious felt the pain beginning to ebb away, but it wasn’t because his body was now getting used to it, it was because his body was growing rapidly weaker. His right arm had fallen limply to his side, and his left had never moved when he wanted it too. Delirious tried to cry out for help one final time, but his voice had stopped working and Delirious could only hang there. Tears were slipping out from behind the edges of his mask and down his face. Delirious’ vision was growing blurry, and he could feel his eyelids beginning to droop.

 

This was it. This was the end of it. His life was now coming to end. One final tear slipped from Delirious’ eyes and through the eyehole in his mask, sliding down the white and red colored material. Delirious’ eyes finally drooped shut and his entire body went totally limp.

* * *

Mark and Avery had had to run through The Rotten Fields to do so, but they finally lost The Hillbilly and were running back towards the dismantled hook. They had heard one final scream before everything was gone, and now they feared for Delirious’ life. They finally came to the ruins, and were looking all over the place.

 

“Over there!” Mark cried suddenly.

 

Avery stopped and saw him running towards something. She took a closer look, and once she realized what it was, she ran after him.

 

The sight was. . . horrific.

 

Just Delirious hanging limply by his left shoulder with blood spilling down his front and even staining the front of his mask was enough to make Avery drop to her knees and start crying. This was real and actually happening. And only to make things worse, Avery remembered that it was written in the Journal that any injuries received inside the game were inflicted upon their actual bodies in the real world.

 

Delirious may as well have just been permanently disabled.

 

“We have to get him down!” Avery said, standing up again and going towards the pillar.

 

“Just how are we supposed to do that?” Mark pointed out.

 

“Lift me up and I’ll finish dismantling the hook. You can wait below Delirious and catch him when he falls.” Avery explained. “We’ll take him back to the hideout from there.” she added worriedly.

 

Mark did as Avery had said, helping her up onto the stand and went to stand beneath Delirious. He moved a little as Avery worked, but Mark was ready when Delirious finally fell. Avery quickly jumped off the stand and helped Mark lay Delirious down on the ground. She pulled the hook out of his shoulder and pressed her hands over the wound.

 

“Help me carry him,” Avery said, and she and Mark raised Delirious once more and started heading towards the hideout.

 

Jack was shifting his sitting position constantly out of boredom and worry as he waited for Mark, Avery, and Delirious to return. He finally lost his patience and stood up, heading to the stairs. He had just placed his foot on the first step when he heard a shout. Jack hurried up the stairs and waited by the hatch, listening.

 

“Jack!” it was muffled by the layers in the floor, but Jack recognized the voice as Mark’s.

 

He could also hear Avery yelling his name alongside Mark, and pushed open the hatch to see what was going on. Looking out into the Killer’s Shack, Jack saw nothing at first, but then he heard hurried footsteps, and then Mark and Avery appeared in the doorway. Jack felt huge relief at seeing them again, but then his relief was blown away as his eyes widened with horror.

 

For Mark and Avery were carrying something. Or someone. And that someone was Delirious. Jack could see the blood that was staining his frontside and immediately knew that he was to help get Delirious back inside the hideout. The moment that Mark and Avery reached him in the hatch, Jack supported Delirious’ shoulders and chest as he was lowered into the hideout. Mark helped get him down the stairs, and then Avery was quickly at Delirious’ side with the first-aid kit in hand.

 

The moment that Delirious was placed on the floor, Avery was taking off his sweater. There was a hole in the back of it where the hook had punctured, and the backside of the sweater was just as stained as the front. Once the blue sweater was removed, Jack saw a large bruise on Delirious’ left arm. It must have been from when he’d killed The Hillbilly in The Rotten Fields.

 

Avery took a small pair of scissors from the kit and cut open the front of Delirious’ shirt, making it easier to take off. Mark and Jack were shocked silent. The scratch across Delirious’ stomach was bad enough, but the sight alone of the horrible wound on his shoulder was enough to make one faint. But they didn’t. They had to help Avery in every way they could.

 

Avery was cleaning the skin around the scratch and the puncture when she asked for help. “I need one of you to help me here,” she said. “I have to get the bandages all the way around his torso, but I can’t do that without lifting him up,” she explained.

 

Mark was the one to help with that. He held Delirious up enough so that Avery could start wrapping his injuries.

 

“Take his mask off,” Avery said as she covered Delirious with many bandages.

 

“What?” Jack was confused. “I thought that he didn’t like showing anyone what he looks like?”

 

“No, he doesn’t, but it’s blocking his mouth and nose, so he can’t breathe as freely. Plus, I’ll have to clean it anyways,” Avery explained.

 

Jack didn’t ask anymore and undid the strap that held Delirious’ mask on. He took it off and placed it on the floor nearby. Avery hadn’t reacted to seeing Jonathan’s face at all and just kept wrapping. It took a while, but finally his wounds were covered and Mark, with Jack’s help, slowly lowered Delirious back onto the floor.

 

Avery sighed and picked up the mask, carrying it and a cloth over to another corner. She started rubbing the inside of the mask, wiping away the blood and tear stains. Jack was watching her as Mark kept his eye on Delirious. Finally, Avery completed her task and placed the mask on the floor next to Delirious. She backed away and could only watch Delirious as his breath continued unsteadily.

 

His face was nothing like Avery had actually imagined. His hair was always drawn to be short, almost like a buzz cut in the pictures Delirious used for the thumbnails on his channel, but it was longer at the front, with very short bangs that stuck out a little. His skin was definitely lighter than she had thought it was, but she was glad that all the things other people described weren’t true.

 

Avery didn’t ship H2OVanoss, but she had read a few fanfictions, though it had only been out of boredom and the curiosity of how other people wrote it. In many of those stories that she’d read, the writers had always seemed to think that the Delirious behind the screen had piercings and tattoos, but it was all wrong. He had none of those things, as it turned out. His skin was bare of any ink, and his ears and the rest of his face went without a single piercing.

 

Mark and Jack didn’t notice it, but Avery smiled a little. She knew that she couldn’t say anything about it, but if she did, she was sure that all the other fans would be jealous of her because she’d seen what H2ODelirious looks like. That is if they would even believe a word Avery would say.

 

But no, Avery would keep the secret to herself. She was sure that Jonathan wouldn’t want her saying that she’d seen his face. She was sure that he wouldn’t exactly be too happy when he woke up and found out that his mask had been removed. Even if it had just been for cleaning.

 

Avery suddenly realized that Delirious’ face was still covered with some blood, and she moved closer to wipe it away. Once his face was clean, Avery closed the first-aid kit and placed her head on her knees.

 

Mark and Jack were sitting next to each other on the opposite wall, watching both Avery and Delirious worriedly.

 

Avery had been thinking that Delirious wouldn’t be pleased to hear his mask had been removed when he woke up, but that was only  _ if _ he ever woke up. He could die from the wounds he’d received, and then everyone back home would never know the truth of his death.

  
Mark, Jack, and Avery could only wait for something to happen, whether it be Delirious waking up or dying, it was still something. They could only hope for the best.


	6. Problems

“So, uh. . . I thought I should mention tha I found one of the generators,” Jack said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had set heavily around the room over the past hour.

 

“We didn’t find the other one, but at least you got this one fixed?” Avery asked, her voice dry. She coughed to clear her throat and then drank some of the water that was left in her bottle.

 

“Yeah, I was.” Jack nodded.

 

“What were you doing outside?” Mark looked at Jack suspiciously.

 

“I fell asleep not long after you guys had left, and I wanted to help you when I woke up.” Jack explained. “`Course I had to find yeh first.”

 

“But instead you found the generator,” Avery said, her voice cracking. “And then came back here?” Avery didn’t take her eyes off the floor in front of her as she spoke.

 

“Yeah, I did. Just waited until you guys came back,” Jack said.

 

Mark was looking at Avery with concentration, and he wasn’t letting anything pass him over. It was obvious that Avery was scared and worried, but they all were. Mark scooted across the room and sat next to Avery.

 

“What is it?” Mark asked.

 

Avery looked up at him, her eyes wet. “What do you mean?” she asked.

 

“The specific thing that’s bothering you,” Mark said. “What is it?” he asked again.

 

Avery looked back down at the floor for a moment before turning her gaze onto Delirious, who still lay unconscious.

 

“I’m afraid of the blame.” Avery looked over at Jack before looking at Mark again. He didn’t say anything, so she continued. “I’m sure you both haven’t forgotten that we’re all here because of me? It’s for that reason that I’m to blame for any injury that you guys might have and even for. . .” Avery took a deep breath. “And even for the deaths.”

 

Mark and Jack were quiet for a minute and Avery began sobbing lightly into her hands. Mark tried to think of something to say while Jack looked next to him at Delirious.

 

The truth was, Jack only knew about Delirious because of Daithi De Nogla. He’d played a simulation game with the other Irishman a few years back, and they still talked sometimes, but otherwise Jack didn’t actually have any interaction with Daithi’s friends other than Ohmwrecker. The chances that Jack would have done something, like play a game with Daithi and some of his friends, was very low and wouldn’t have happened, and he’d even stopped playing with Ohm, too. Jack never would have actually been properly introduced to Delirious, but then they had met each other through getting trapped inside this video game, and Jack was even spending some time with Mark.

 

The same went for all of them. Especially Avery. She’d been wanting to meet the three of them for a while, and who knew just how badly she’d wanted to do so?

 

“Hey, Avery,” Jack looked across the room at Avery, who was still crying a little while Mark was trying to comfort her. Avery looked up. “Not everything about what we’ve been through so far has been bad,” Jack said, hoping it would help.

 

“What do you mean by that?” Avery asked, suddenly a little curious as to what Jack was getting at.

 

“Well, you got ta meet us like you wanted to for starters,” Jack said. “And just from that we’ve all gotten ta know each other.”

 

Avery wiped her face. “Yeah, I guess that’s true,” she said. “I have met you all, now. Only. . . not in the way I wanted.” Avery lowered her head.

 

“There’s also a few things that we’ve each learned, I’m sure.” Jack added a minute later.

 

Avery looked up at him again quickly, knowing what he meant. She looked over at Delirious. “Why don’t you guys go look for the last generator?” she said. “I’ll stay here with Delirious.”

 

Mark stood up and Jack followed him to the stairs. He stopped at the bottom and looked back at Avery, who had moved across the room and sat down next to Delirious.

 

“Yeh sure you’ll be okay on yer own?” Jack asked, knowing the immediate answer.

 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Avery said. “Besides, someone has to stay here to watch him. What if he were to wake up and find us all gone?”

 

Jack gave a small huff of amusement. “That wouldn’t end well,” he said before going up the stairs after Mark.

 

Jack climbed out of the hatch and Mark closed it behind them. They left the Killer’s Shack and Mark started going in the direction that they had been before, leading Jack towards where the cow tree was suspected to be located.

 

“Do you know where you’re going, Mark?” Jack asked after passing the first hook.

 

“Yes,” Mark answered. “We had a thought that the last generator might be around the cow tree, so we were heading over there.”

 

“It sounds like there’s something in between,” Jack said.

 

“We passed a ruined shed, where there was a hook.” Mark explained.

 

Jack didn’t need to hear anymore; he knew what Mark was saying. “That’s where H2O was. . . ?” he guessed.

 

Mark nodded as he and Jack kept walking.

 

Jack looked wearily at the ruins of the shed when they walked past it later, unable to imagine what horrible things had happened there just an hour earlier. Once the shed was out of sight, Jack spotted the Silo and pointed it out to Mark.

 

“That must mean that we’re close,” Mark said.

 

After another few minutes, the smell came back to Jack and he gagged. “Yup, we’re definitely close by,” he said, coughing.

 

He still didn’t quite understand why it smelled so good to him, even now when he already knew what it was coming from. Mark spotted the large fire that was always burning around the tree and made his way towards it. Jack followed, and held it in when he saw the corpses again. Up close, the smell was just. . . intolerable. It even made Mark sick, and he couldn’t smell it at all from the distance that it reached Jack.

 

“All right, so it should be around here somewhere,” Mark plugged his nose and looked around.

 

“We might want ta worry about the generator later, because right now we have a monster problem!” Jack exclaimed in a loud whisper.

 

Mark followed his gaze and saw The Hillbilly, too. The Hillbilly was standing only yards away, and it was staring straight at them. The weirdest thing was that it wasn’t charging them. But even from this distance Jack could see it clearly; the blood that stained the monster’s front.

 

“Is that. . . blood. . . ?” Jack couldn’t get the words out, and he looked at Mark, who nodded. Jack gulped when he looked back at The Hillbilly. “The bastard,” he muttered quietly, feeling hate well up inside him.

 

Mark and Jack slowly moved forward, making a cautious approach. Then Mark stopped suddenly and grabbed Jack’s arm.

 

“What is it?” Jack asked.

 

“Uh, we have a problem,” Mark pointed at The Hillbilly.

 

Jack didn’t quite get it, but he looked at the killer hard and well. And then he noticed what Mark had.

  
The Hillbilly was guarding the final generator.


	7. Wrath Of The Chainsaw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you weren't already shocked stiff by everything that's happened so far, then you might be a little startled after this chapter. I've got something special for all of you in mind, so be prepared and hold on to those socks!

Mark and Jack stared blankly at The Hillbilly, which stood in front of the last generator. They couldn’t just leave it to go and find another generator, because there were no other generators. The one behind The Hillbilly was the last one on the entire map, and if it wasn’t repaired, then Mark, Jack, Avery, and Delirious (if he lived) wouldn’t be able to escape Coldwind Farm and move on.

 

“How do we get rid of the fookin bastard?!” Jack growled. He huffed angrily. “Can’t do shit unless that damn thing goes away!”

 

Mark heaved an annoyed sigh, “I know that, Jack. Just as well as you do. Only, how we get rid of it is a mystery.”

 

“We’ll have to plan this out carefully. Don’t want one of us getting hurt,” Jack said. “We already have ta worry about H2O.”

 

Mark’s shoulders slumped. No doubt the two of them were still worried about Delirious, who currently still lay unconscious.

 

Avery was growing impatient. Mark and Jack had only been gone for half an hour, but she was still getting antsy. Not only was she getting worried about Mark and Jack, but she was only growing more and more afraid for Delirious. Ever since she’d finished bandaging him, he’d gone still, with just uneven breathing to show that he was still alive.

 

But now Delirious was starting to move again, but not exactly in a good way. He was twitching a little, and Avery occasionally heard a small, pained moan. If anything, his condition was getting worse by the minute.

 

Mark and Jack had by now tried multiple things in the attempt to get The Hillbilly away from the generator. But to their frustration, none of them had worked so far. They had tried a decoy, angering The Hillbilly until it finally gave up and charged them, and they had even tried getting up behind The Hillbilly, but it never let them out of its sight.

 

Finally, the two of them had given up, and were now going to just go for it. Mark slowly moved closer to the generator and The Hillbilly, constantly looking between the two. He was growing nervous as he got closer to the monster. Taking another cautious step forward, Mark looked back at Jack, who was close behind him. He could see the fear in his eyes as they got closer to the generator.

 

When they got as close as they dared, about five or so yards away, Mark and Jack froze at the slightest movement The Hillbilly made. They were both a bit confused as to why The Hillbilly wasn’t charging them, and then Mark realized that it wasn’t even  _ looking  _ at them anymore. He looked at Jack, who didn’t seem to have noticed it.

 

“I don’t think it even cares that we’re here,” Mark whispered.

 

Jack looked quickly at him. “You sure?” he asked, looking back at the monster.

 

The Hillbilly was turning its head slowly left and right, looking around. Mark and Jack got a little closer, and stopped again when the beast looked straight at them. But still, it didn’t attack. Instead, it spoke.

 

**“You come for the machine?”** it asked. The Hillbilly’s voice was a deep gurgle, but just hearing it say anything at all startled Jack and Mark. **“I have no need to harm you. . . currently,”** The Hillbilly said.

 

Mark and Jack looked at each other.

 

“Uh,” Mark began. “How. . . are you talking?” he asked. The Hillbilly didn’t answer, it just stepped aside, giving Mark and Jack access to the generator.

 

**“I do not care for you two or the girl anymore. Just the one who escaped me.”** The Hillbilly said. Mark and Jack didn’t approach the generator. They wouldn’t unless they were sure this wasn’t a trap. **“He took me out,”** the Hillbilly continued. **“And I wish to destroy him!”** it growled, swinging its hammer through the air angrily.

 

Mark and Jack looked at each other before slowly closing the distance between them and the generator. They carefully began to repair it, glancing nervously at The Hillbilly every now and then as it watched them work. It stared off into the distance, mainly in the direction that they had come, looking towards the Killer’s Shack and the hideout.

 

It moved a few yards away, out of earshot, and Mark whispered, “Do you think it means Delirious?”

 

“Likely,” Jack said. “I don’t like it.”

 

It took a while, especially since they were constantly looking at The Hillbilly nervously throughout the repairs, but the light finally came on, and as soon as it did, Mark and Jack made to return to the hideout, but The Hillbilly stopped them before they could leave.

 

**“I have let you increase your chances of escape,”** it growled. **“But there is one thing I want before you all leave.”** The Hillbilly held out its chainsaw, pointing it at Mark. **“You are to bring me your blue friend before you leave. I want my revenge on him, and if you do not do this, then you will all be killed.”**

 

“Yeah, okay.” Jack squeaked.

 

The Hillbilly let them go and Mark and Jack bolted. The fled from the scene and left The Hillbilly behind them, never looking back to see if it was following. They finally stopped at the first hook nearest the Killer’s Shack to catch their breath. The Hillbilly hadn’t followed them. Or it hadn’t been able to keep up. Either way, they were safe.

 

“What should we do?” Jack asked, his voice filled with fear.

 

“Well, we should get back and then tell Avery,” Mark said.

 

“That thing wants Delirious, though!” Jack exclaimed. “We aren’t gonna just hand him over, are we?!”

 

“What? No!” Mark gasped. “Why on earth would we do that? He’s our friend! We’ll just have to tell Avery and then we’ll figure out a way around this.” Mark turned and headed for the Killer’s Shack, Jack following behind him.

 

When they reached the doorway, there was suddenly a faint shout.

 

“Sounds like H2O is awake.” Jack guessed.

 

“Must be,” Mark opened the hatch.

* * *

Avery was still just sitting against the wall, watching over Delirious. He was still twitching, and it seemed to have gotten worse and more frequent. She was just beginning to doze off when there was a shout. Jumping violently, Avery quickly realized that Delirious had suddenly woken up. He must not have known immediately where he was at the moment, because he’d sat up and backed himself against the wall, looking panicked.

 

Avery got up quickly and held him as still as she could. “Delirious! Calm down!” she said, trying to get Delirious to look at her.

 

“What-?! Where am I?!” Delirious demanded.

 

“Delirious, you’re at the hideout. You’re safe,” Avery said slowly.

 

Delirious finally registered who was in front of him and his quickened breath slowed down. Mark and Jack walked in just then and Delirious suddenly remembered what happened. His shoulder exploded with pain and he let out a yelp, gripping the bandaged injury. Avery was searching through the first-aid kit for something, and it was then that Delirious realized that his left arm was placed in a swing crafted from what looked like an old pillowcase or sheet.

 

Avery finally found what she was looking for and gave Delirious the sedative. The pain in his shoulder eased a little, and Delirious was able to relax. His shoulder and arm still hurt, but the pain was at least bearable for now. Delirious opened his eyes again and saw that Mark, Jack, and Avery were all looking at him worriedly.

 

“What happened?” he asked. “Besides me nearly getting killed?” he added, looking around him and spotting his sweater, neatly folded up next to him.

 

He was able to spread it out again and slip his right arm through the sleeve, but had trouble getting it over his back.

 

Avery didn’t even need to ask, she just grabbed the sweater and put around Delirious. “Want it zipped?” she asked.

 

“Yes, please.” Delirious sighed.

 

Avery closed the front of the sweater and stepped away. Delirious leaned back against the wall again, a tired sigh escaping him. He brought his hand up to rub his eyes, and then realized that his mask was gone.

 

“Hey, where’s my mask?!” Delirious looked around.

 

“It’s right next to you,” Avery said.

 

Delirious looked over and snatched the mask off the floor. “Why did you take it off?!”he demanded, his eyes full of anger.

 

“I had to,” Avery began explaining, but Delirious interrupted before she could continue.

 

“You just couldn’t resist. Is that it?!” he growled.

 

“No!” Avery exclaimed. “It was blocking your nose and mouth! I had to remove it so it would be easier for you to breathe, since you were unconscious.” she explained quickly. “I also had to clean it.” she added a moment later.

 

“Oh. . . sorry, Avery. I kinda just. . . overreacted then. . . I guess.” Delirious apologized awkwardly, looking down at the hockey mask in his hand.

 

“No, I understand,” Avery said. “Do you want some help putting your mask back on?”

 

Delirious thought for a moment, and then he shook his head. “I think I’ll keep it off for a bit, actually.” He put the mask down next to him on the floor again.

 

Avery nodded, then turned to Mark and Jack, who had both sat down on the other side of the room. “Did you find it?” she asked.

 

“We did,” Mark said. “But we found something else, too.” he added, looking at Delirious nervously.

 

“You’re not going ta like it, though.” Jack warned. He explained what happened with him and Mark while they were out, and hesitated at the point with what The Hillbilly had said.

 

“Is. . . something wrong?” Avery asked at Jack’s sudden silence.

 

“I don’t know, it’s just. . . scary,” Jack said.

 

“The Hillbilly spoke to us at the generator.” Mark explained.

 

Avery’s eyes widened. “It  _ what _ ?!” she gasped.

 

“It said that it didn’t want us or you, Avery, only Delirious,” Mark said.

 

Delirious froze. He hated the sound of that. “So, what. . . ? Now I’m threatened?” he scoffed.

 

“Apparently,” Avery breathed. “How can we get around this?” she asked herself.

 

“I was hoping tha maybe you would have an answer ta that. . .” Jack mumbled.

 

“And I do!” Avery exclaimed suddenly. “You guys could just stay here while I go out looking for one of the gates or the hatch so we can make our escape. If The Hillbilly isn’t interested in attacking me, I basically have free passage throughout the entire map.” Avery looked between Mark, Jack, and Delirious.

 

“I can’t say tha it isn’t a good idea,” Jack said.

 

“Hmm, but it still worries me.” Avery’s gaze fell onto nowhere. “Why would The Hillbilly want Delirious specifically?” she looked at Mark and Jack again.

 

“Something about being the one to escape him?” Mark remembered.

 

“Yeah, it said that it wants revenge on you.” Jack glance at Delirious, who, to his surprise, looked calm.

  
Delirious, however, was anything but. He may have looked calm on the outside, but in truth he was freaking out. Panicking.


	8. Goodbye To Hell Number Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This is the final chapter for part 2. Sorry if you guys thought that it was a little short or anything like that. I know that it was certainly dramatic! :O
> 
> Part 3 will come out February 6, so hang in there! :3

“I promise to come back soon, guys,” Avery said before heading up the stairs.

 

There was faint  _ thud  _ when Avery closed the hatch and Mark, Jack, and Delirious were left in the now quiet hideout. All they could do now was wait for Avery to return.

 

The pain in his shoulder was fading, but it was still there, and Delirious began to think that he was slowly losing feeling in his left arm, for it was growing numb. His shoulder was extremely sore, and breathing hurt like hell. He knew that his shoulder blade and collarbone were shattered, but what of his ribcage? Just how much damage did he take from that hook? Just thinking about what happened made the pain come back, so Delirious tried to change his train of thought.

 

“What. . . what do you think we’ll be facing next?” Delirious asked, getting uncomfortable in the silence that filled the room.

 

“Probably The Trapper,” Mark guessed.

 

“Oh god, not that guy.” Jack groaned.

 

“Sounds like fun,” Delirious said sarcastically. “Only hope we’ll all get out of it.” he shifted his position, flinching when his shoulder pulsed.

 

Jack stopped thinking about what might happen with The Trapper and took notice of Delirious’ state.

 

“So,” Delirious tried to think of something to talk about. Something that wasn’t actually related to  _ Dead By Daylight. _ “What do you guys do?” he asked finally. “Outside of recording, I mean.” he added to be more clear.

 

“Well, nothing interesting,” Mark said. “Sometimes I just let Chica control what I do.” He chuckled at the thought of his dog, and then his smile faded when he thought about what happened to her. Was she okay?

 

Jack wasn’t exactly fooled by the cover up that Delirious was making, but he didn’t want to upset him, so he played along. “I have no daily schedule. It’s really just all over the place.” he said.

 

“I guess that I’m somewhat organized,” Delirious said. It wasn’t exactly true, but he definitely didn’t spend his days waiting to record or binge watching TV all day. He spent some time with Luke, or CaRtOoNz, and also had to take care of his dog, Spike. Otherwise there really wasn’t much to his life than he would have thought.

 

“You have any pets? I know that Mark has Chica,” Jack said.

 

“Just my dog, Spike.” Delirious answered.

 

“What breed? I’ve got an English Cream Retriever.” Mark said.

 

“American Pitbull Terrier.” Delirious explained. “Although sometimes I think he’s a boxer or something else for some reason. . .” he added, confusion spreading across his face.

 

“Wish I could have a pet. . .” Jack sighed.

 

“Apartment not allow it?” Mark asked.

 

“Sometimes I wish that they wouldn’t allow visitors. Especially siblings.” Jack chuckled. “Not always, though.”

 

Jack saying he had siblings made Delirious think about his sister. He had no idea what had happened to her after she and Luke broke up awhile ago. Sadness returned to him as when Delirious thought of Luke. If his sister hadn’t fallen in love with him in the first place, there was a chance that they never would have even met. Over the years, Delirious and Luke grew close enough to be like brothers, and Delirious couldn’t ask for anything better. Luke cared about him, and was always helpful when it came to hard situations.

 

On days where Delirious was stuck or needed help with something, Luke had always been there to help him. Delirious needed help now, but Luke wasn’t there with him, and there was a chance that he never would be again, if Delirious didn’t make it out of this. He missed everyone of his friends and family, but it seemed like Luke was at the top of them all, and Delirious wished that Luke could be there for him right now, even though the place wasn’t the best.

 

Delirious heard Mark and Jack talk about something else with each other, but he was practically blocking it all out now. He eyes hurt from wanting to cry all of a sudden, and his heart began to ache.

 

“So, what about you, Delirious?” Mark snapped Delirious out of his depression and he looked up, puzzled. What were they talking about? “Who would you say is your favorite YouTuber?” Mark repeated the question.

 

“Oh, uh. . .” Delirious didn’t know why he had to think about it. “Do bestfriends count?” he asked.

 

“If that’s the case, then yes,” Mark said. “Jack said I’m his favorite.”

 

Delirious laughed lightly, but stopped quickly when there was a slight stab of pain in his shoulder. “Then I have to say Cartoonz. He’s like a brother to me.” Delirious said, trying to hide evidence that his arm was hurting again quickly.

 

There was silence for a minute, before Delirious quietly added, “I really miss him. . .”

 

“I can understand why,” Mark said. “If you two are that close, then it’s understandable. I miss my brother Jason and everyone else back home just as much.”

 

“It’s the same for all of us,” Jack said. “Stuff like this has that effect on people.”

 

Delirious, Mark, and Jack talked for a while, changing the subject more often than not, and even learning a few things about each other. Delirious felt himself calming down as time passed.

 

He jumped, a stab of pain piercing his shoulder, when there was a loud  _ thud _ from above them and the sound of pounding feet. The next second, Avery appeared at the bottom of the steps.

 

“Guess what I found?” she said immediately.

 

“What?” Mark and Jack looked up at her.

 

“I found the escape hatch, which will make it easier for Delirious to escape. It’s quick, and we wouldn’t have to wait for the door to open.” Avery explained.

 

“This makes everything easier!” Jack said, getting to his feet.

 

Delirious picked up his mask and Mark helped him get it back on. Once the strap was fastened, Delirious went to stand up, but his legs suddenly felt like jelly, and Mark pulled him to his feet. Avery watched with concern as Mark supported Delirious under his right arm across the room.

 

Jack helped Mark get Delirious up the stairs and outside the Killer’s Shack, and Avery started leading them in the direction of the escape hatch. Walking was almost agony for Delirious, and he knew that he was only slowing the group down. He couldn’t tell them to just leave him behind to The Hillbilly, since they would obviously protest, but he didn’t like the thought of keeping them all here longer than they wanted to stay.

 

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the group reached the escape hatch.

 

“I honestly don’t know what to expect after this,” Avery said as she forced open the door in the ground.

 

Delirious let himself slip away from Mark, and he wobbled when he was standing on his own.

 

“You got it?” Mark asked worriedly as Delirious was concentrating on keeping his balance.

 

“Yeah, I think so,” Delirious said uncertainly.

 

“We’ll let you go first, since you’re injured,” Avery said. “I’ll be right behind you, though.”

 

Delirious nodded before he managed to lower himself through the hatch and off Coldwind Farm.

 

Once he was gone, Avery turned to Mark and Jack. “See you on the next map?” she asked.

 

“Yes, and hopefully soon,” Mark said.

 

Avery smiled a little before jumping into the hole in the ground, disappearing before Mark’s and Jack’s eyes.

 

“You go first,” Jack said to Mark.

 

“No, you should go.” Mark shook his head.

 

“Are we really going ta argue about this?” Jack asked.

 

Mark shrugged. “Probably?”

 

Jack rolled his eyes.

 

**“YOU LIED TO ME!”** a loud shout made Mark and Jack jump and they turned quickly to see The Hillbilly charging towards them.

 

“OH SHIT!” Jack cried, bolting with Mark right behind him.

 

There was no point in going through the hatch at all since they would just keep arguing about who would go first, so the two of them just ran. The Hillbilly sprinted, waving its chainsaw threateningly at Mark and Jack as they ran. They split, turning in opposite directions to avoid getting sliced to pieces by the chainsaw. The Hillbilly stopped after running right between them, and then after it recovered, it tried to figure out where Mark and Jack had gone.

 

Mark and Jack had joined again, and were running towards the Silo, which was clearly visible in front of them.

 

“Wait, Mark, look!” Jack shouted suddenly, pointing away from the from the fallen Silo.

 

Mark looked and saw that what Jack had spotted was a gate, and it was already opened. They stopped in front of it and looked around. The Hillbilly was missing, so there was a chance that they had lost it.

 

“Avery musta opened it while she was out,” Jack guessed. “Just in case.”

 

“It’s likely. Come on,” Mark started walking towards the barrier that would send them on to the next map with Avery and Delirious.

 

They were about to escape, and didn’t hesitate to do so. Finally, the two of them were getting off Coldwind Farm, and though there was still more to come, they knew that they were closer to getting home again.

 

Then Mark and Jack heard the whirring, and knew that The Hillbilly had found them again, or had always known where they were and just kept quiet. Mark and Jack lunged forward towards the barrier, but The Hillbilly reached out and grabbed Mark by the back of his shirt.

 

Jack stopped short and ran at the monster to save Mark, but The Hillbilly grabbed him and shoved Jack hard backward. Everything quickly dissolved around him and Jack realized that he’d been pushed past the barrier and was being taken to the next map.

 

But Mark had been caught by The Hillbilly.

 

Mark was left behind.

**Author's Note:**

> The publishing schedule for this part is every Tuesday and Thursday.


End file.
